Patent Grant
PP35349
Genus and species: Coleus scutellarioides.
Cultivar denomination: ‘UF20-140-2’.
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The invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Coleus plant named ‘UF20-140-2’. The new cultivar ‘UF20-140-2’ originated from an open pollination conducted in May-November 2019 in Citra, Fla. between the female Coleus plant ‘UF18-34-7’ (unpatented) and an unknown male Coleus plant. A single seedling was chosen in May 2020 for further asexual propagation in Gainesville, Fla.
The new cultivar ‘UF20-140-2’ has been reproduced asexually for over 18 months through vegetative meristem tip cuttings and has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive asexual propagations. ‘UF20-140-2’ was first propagated asexually by vegetative meristem tip cuttings in May 2020 in Gainesville, Fla., and has remained true-to-type since that time.
Plant Breeder's Rights for the new cultivar ‘UF20-140-2’ have not been applied for, and ‘UF20-140-2’ has not been made publicly available more than one year prior to the filing date of this application.
When compared to the female parent ‘UF18-34-7’, the new cultivar ‘UF20-140-2’ has small thin irregular shaped leaves that are twice as long as they are wide. Leaves of ‘UF20-140-2’ are multi-colored with yellowish green as the predominant color, with dark red margins and accents, purplish red mid-veins, and pale greenish yellow bases. In contrast, ‘UF18-34-7’ has larger leaves that are equally as long as they are wide, and lance-shaped with pointed apices. ‘UF18-34-7’ has leaves that are dark maroon with dark green margins, and only small traces of pink color on older leaves. ‘UF20-140-2’ has a vigorous upright and spreading growth habit, whereas ‘UF18-34-7’ is equally vigorous but has a distinctly mounding growth habit with more lateral branching.
The new cultivar ‘UF20-140-2’ was selected because it has a combination of novel and desirable traits. It has multi-colored yellowish green and dark red foliage, highlighted with purplish red and pale greenish yellow areas. The foliage color shows stability in both sun and shade. The unique shape of the foliage is extremely uniform across the plant throughout development. It has excellent lateral branching, thus providing ample vegetative propagules for producers. It has a vigorous upright and spreading habit, growing more horizontal than vertical, which allows it to fill space with vibrant color very quickly in summer gardens.
The new cultivar ‘UF20-140-2’ has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype of the new cultivar may vary with variations in environment and cultural practices such as temperature, light intensity, fertilization, irrigation, and application of plant growth regulators without any change in genotype.
The following are the most outstanding and distinguishing characteristics of ‘UF20-140-2’ when grown under normal horticultural practices in Gainesville, Fla.: ‘UF20-140-2’ has the combination of vigorous, upright and spreading growth habit, excellent heat tolerance, and consistent multi-colored leaves that are significantly different than other Coleus plants; it has superior stability in foliage color in both sun and shade conditions, maintaining stable color in all conditions; ‘UF20-140-2’ is a vigorous cultivar with excellent lateral branching, making it suitable for propagators and producers; and ‘UF20-140-2’ has been observed to have long-season performance in landscape trials in Gainesville, Fla.
This new Coleus cultivar ‘UF20-140-2’ is illustrated by the accompanying photographs, which show the plant's form and foliage. The colors shown are as true as can be reasonably obtained by conventional photographic procedures.
Foliage color was determined under full sun conditions in the middle of the day in a glass-covered greenhouse. Color references are to The R.H.S. Colour Chart of The Royal Horticultural Society of London (R.H.S.), 2007 5th Edition. Coleus leaves are rarely one solid color but encompass hues, shades and tints, and color patterns differ from one genotype to another due to varying levels of variegation. The following detailed description of ‘UF20-140-2’ was obtained using ten-week-old plants grown from unrooted cuttings in February-April 2022 in a glass-covered greenhouse in Gainesville, Fla. The plants were propagated in mist for ten days after cuttings were stuck, then grown in one-gallon pots for approximately eight and a half additional weeks.
When the new cultivar ‘UF20-140-2’ is compared to the commercial cultivar ‘UF20-138-1’ (unpatented, commercial name “Mini Me Watermelon”), ‘UF20-140-2’ and ‘UF20-138-1’ have very similar leaf shape and growth habits; however, ‘UF20-140-2’ has mature leaves that are multi-colored greenish yellow, pale greenish yellow and dark red on the upper surface, whereas ‘UF20-138-1’ has mature leaves that are predominantly colored dark red with yellow green margins and accents on the upper surface.
